Stockholm?
"Stop crying, please. I beg you." Zheng Cheng's ears were being pinched by Xiao Ming, and he frowned in dissatisfaction. "Let me go after you've disinfected it. It hurts."
"The bleeding won't stop, Brother Cheng, why are you so cruel to yourself?" Xiao Ming wiped his tears with his sleeve while pressing the wound on Zheng Cheng's ear with iodine. The cut wasn't big, but his fingernails dug deep into it, and blood was coming out of the small hole.
Was I being mean to myself? Normally, if I bumped into the corner of a table, I'd be moaning for a long time. During a panic attack, all my senses were numb, and I didn't feel any pain at all.
Every time he has a panic attack, he will hurt himself to some extent. Perhaps this is the only way to force the flashback memory to stop and return to reality.
"It's his fault! It's his fault for not taking his medicine properly." A cheerful female voice laughed on the other end of the phone.
"I was able to control myself quite well, it's only because I took the extra medicine temporarily." Zheng Cheng was still being stubborn.
"If you have a seizure at this small dose change, then you can't say you're well controlled." The woman's voice became a little more serious. "Chengcheng, exposure therapy isn't meant for you to mess around like that."
Yin Nai is the psychotherapist hired by Zheng's family. She has been with him for 8 years. The treatment had reached the consolidation stage, but after the kidnapping case went to trial, Zheng Cheng's condition suddenly worsened.
As an adult, Zheng Cheng became more and more undisciplined. He used to report his condition in a proper manner when he was a child, but suddenly he began to conceal his condition and resisted taking medicine, which led to multiple panic attacks in class. In the end, Yin Nai signed Zheng Cheng's leave of absence certificate.
"Sister, I didn't reveal anything. I was just conducting a normal investigation and I didn't return to the crime scene." Zheng Cheng stubbornly said.
"He was already looking at plane tickets." Zhou Min added very timely.
"Good brother, thank you for your support." Zheng Cheng glared at him angrily.
Yin Nai laughed on the other end of the phone: "Well, you still have the energy to curse, it seems the situation is not too bad. I'm also looking at plane tickets, I'm going back to Shanghai next week, Chengcheng, you better behave yourself these few days."
"Xiao Ming, take me back to Zheng Mansion." Zheng Cheng said as soon as he hung up the phone.
"Don't go today." Zhou Min stopped him, "Sleep here with me, don't run around."
Zheng Cheng stood up: "No, I'm fine now."
"Why can't Brother Cheng go back and rest?" Xiao Ming asked.
Zhou Min snorted, "How could he go back to the Zheng Mansion to rest? He must want to ask Uncle Zheng for clarification."
This time Xiao Ming wouldn't let him go either.
Damn childhood friend, thank him and his whole family.
To distract him, Zhou Min took them to the nursery to help him feed reptiles and birds. Xiao Ming had never seen these before, so he was busy using pliers to pick up insects to feed geckos and a syringe to feed baby birds.
"You don't live on campus in college just to take care of them, right?" Zheng Cheng is very familiar with his pets. A spotted sail lizard even stands on his shoulder.
"Well, young birds need to be fed every few hours. They can't leave their bodies alone," Zhou Min wrote, recording their feedings on a spreadsheet. "These birds in this batch are too weak. They can't be released until the end of summer vacation."
I was left behind too, as weak as a baby bird, Zheng Cheng thought with some frustration.
It was nice to stay and rest. With someone to talk to, he fell asleep more easily. Xiao Ming chatted with him while editing the video, and Zheng Cheng slept quite a long time that night.
It was only a ten-minute drive from Maojiang to Zheng Mansion. After leaving early the next morning, Zheng Cheng informed Zhang Ma and remained silent, which made Xiao Ming nervous. He randomly tried to find some topics to talk about, but Zheng Cheng's responses were not very attentive.
"Did I really look scary yesterday?" Zheng Cheng suddenly asked.
Xiao Ming nodded, thought for a moment and said, "Last time you locked the door and didn't answer my knocks, was that also because of a seizure? You even lied to me that you were asleep and didn't hear anything."
No answer is considered as a tacit agreement.
"Brother Cheng, why don't I move in and live with you? You can deduct the rent from my salary." Xiao Ming said.
"No, that's insane. I don't want to live with a man." Zheng Cheng yelled, his voice still a little hoarse, not as powerful as usual when scolding people. "Besides, your salary is only enough for one square meter, not enough for deduction at all."
There was a gunshot, Xiao Ming was shot in the forehead.
Why sympathize with capitalism? It's crazy.
At the gate of Zheng Mansion, Old Chen was standing there to greet people early. He was wearing a suit even in the hot weather and looked stuffy.
"Have a good rest, Brother Cheng." Xiao Ming said when he got off the car.
"Why are you taking a break? Come pick me up in half an hour." Zheng Cheng said and got out of the car.
"Miaomiao already told me about the meeting two days ago." Zheng Yuan quickly finished the coffee that Zhang Ma had made that morning. "Your opinion is very pertinent. The cooperation contract has been sent to Tianren."
"I'm not doing this." Zheng Cheng picked up a candy and put it in his mouth. "I found the restaurant where the kidnappers held me."
The coffee cup made an inopportune tapping sound.
"How many times have I told you, let the past be the past..."
"I can't make it." Zheng Cheng's voice was a little louder. "You're not the ones who can't sleep. You're not the ones who suddenly can't breathe in the middle of an exam. Of course you can make it, but I can't!"
"Okay, okay, don't get excited." Zheng Yuan immediately softened. "Go on, go on. Daddy is listening."
Zheng Cheng took a deep breath and organized his words:
"The restaurant [Makoto], the manager and chef Makoto Takada, died after the kidnappers were apprehended."
"Ah? How could that be?" Zheng Yuan's surprise was not a disguise, and then he realized that his reaction exposed some facts.
"Sure enough," Zheng Cheng sneered, "You've been lying to me all these years about not having any restaurants, but you actually know everything."
Zheng Yuan, who has always been as steady as a rock and never panicked in the face of adversity, now looks embarrassed.
The kidnapping of the third son of the Zheng family was a huge stain on the Zheng family's reputation among the wealthy. It was a huge joke that a family that claimed to love and support each other couldn't even protect their most cherished child. He couldn't let Zheng Cheng get into any more trouble.
Unfortunately, things went against our wishes. As Zheng Cheng grew older, he became more and more unruly. He dropped out of school to become a blogger, but every time we met, he would cause a quarrel at home. Now, he has started investigating the closed kidnapping case, which is really worrying.
"How can it be considered a lie? You often feel short of breath, and your mother is so distressed." Zheng Yuan sighed heavily.
Huh? Heartbroken? As far as Zheng Cheng could remember, he'd only had that outburst in front of his parents once. After that, Zheng Yuan used the excuse that Chen Min would be "heartbroken" to avoid him for a long time, leaving Dr. Yin to report everything to them.
Is this called heartache?
Not knowing Zheng Cheng's psychological activities, Zheng Yuan still played the role of a loving father in his own world:
"Chengcheng, we're not hiding this from you; we just don't want you to be hurt again. Mom and Dad feel really guilty about letting you suffer. Now that the owner of this restaurant is gone and it's closed, let's not pay too much attention to it anymore. Just focus on recuperating..."
"Rest assured?" Zheng Cheng laughed. "I thought I'd be fine once the kidnappers caught me, but now they're in jail, and my condition has worsened. How can I be at ease?"
"You were just provoked by the news. Everything was fine before, wasn't it?" Zheng Yuan continued to persuade her earnestly, "The memory of being kidnapped is a trauma for you. The restaurant will only excite you further. Don't recall it..."
"Dad," Zheng Cheng interrupted him, "You think the restaurant incident was a shock and a trauma for me. Is it possible that you're going in the wrong direction? I don't have any bad memories of the restaurant. I just remember lying on the ground, drinking a bowl of delicious miso soup, and falling asleep. And yet..."
"Chengcheng! Stop talking." Zheng Yuan put his hands on his shoulders, his tone almost pleading, "Your memory is embellished. Doctor Yin said it's Stockholm syndrome. Don't think about it. Take your medicine well, get enough rest, and listen to the doctor. You will recover."
"No..." The thought of rebuttal was interrupted by Zheng Yuan's eyes. Zheng Cheng lowered his eyelids, "Okay, got it."
Every time Zheng Cheng communicated with them, he would get so annoyed that he wanted to talk back, but in the end it was just like hitting cotton with his fists.
"What's with all that Stockholm syndrome? I don't remember any kidnappers, so how could I even imagine a Stockholm scene?" Zheng Cheng couldn't wait to start rambling as soon as he closed the car door. "What Dr. Yin said was based on their description. He said one sentence, and I've remembered it for almost ten years. I sympathize with the kidnappers? I want to tie them up and beat them up live!"
Hearing that Zheng Cheng had turned into Angry Birds mode again, Xiao Ming was relieved. His face was paler than paper last night, but now it was red.
"Didn't your uncle and aunt ask you what happened to your ear?" Xiao Ming put a bandage on the wound on Zheng Cheng's ear. There was no bleeding now, so it should have stopped bleeding.
"No, he never pays attention to these things." Zheng Cheng touched his ear, lowered his head and smiled, "Let's go, we'll talk later."
"We'll decide where to go later, okay? I'll drive to your house first."
"No, go and talk about it later! Talk about it later!"
"I heard you. Tell me when you've made up your mind, brother Cheng. Don't be so loud. My ears hurt too."
"I said! Let's go to that sushi restaurant! Let's talk about it!!! Yan Xiaoming, did you do this on purpose?!"
"Hahahaha bro, you're really noisy now that you're rejuvenated."
This assistant was spoiled by him.
The manager wasn't in, and since it was afternoon, there weren't many customers. There were only a few customers in Zaishan. Zheng Cheng and Xiao Ming sat in the same booth as last time. Glancing at the counter, Hu Hanyu was talking to a customer.
The atmosphere wasn't quite right.
The customer was holding two sushis and talking non-stop. Hu Hanyu was busy with his head down. He replied from time to time and also gave instructions to the young chef next to him. However, the customer's problem seemed to be unsolvable and his voice gradually became louder.
"What's wrong with me asking you to heat it up? Do you think we bought too little?" Upon hearing this, Zheng Cheng, who had just been lazily looking at his phone, suddenly raised his head and looked over.
Hu Hanyu seemed to say something.
"I told you that the baby has a delicate stomach and can't eat rice with soup or cold food. Don't you understand? Besides, you won't heat it up, so why should I pay more?"
"What is she talking about? She wants to heat up the sushi before eating?" Xiao Ming turned to Zheng Cheng in disbelief.
The few customers in the store were all attracted by this piece.
Zheng Cheng usually has no interest in such family matters, but since the other party is Hu Hanyu, he wants to see a joke. He tilted his head towards Xiao Ming, and the two of them leaned forward and sat closer to the bar.
The dispute occurred between an elderly aunt and a sister who was holding a 2-year-old child in her arms. The chubby little hands were scooping rice grains from the baby's bowl, but every time the child was about to the baby's mouth, the aunt would hold him back.
"People buy rice balls at convenience stores and they heat them up. Your service at an authentic sushi restaurant should be better. Why not? Call your manager out!" The auntie's voice became louder when she saw people watching.
"Sushi cannot be hot." Hu Hanyu replied.
"Mom, forget it, stop arguing. It's okay for the baby to eat something cold in the summer." My sister felt embarrassed and advised in a low voice.
"This is a sales tactic. Are you trying to trick me into buying more rice balls? No way!" The aunt got angry after being persuaded by her daughter and started scolding her daughter. "I told you on WeChat that you must not fall for this kind of trick. It's just trying to steal your money! Baby, don't eat it!"
The rice grains that were finally brought to the baby's mouth were knocked away again. The baby's dissatisfaction finally erupted and he started to cry.
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